Ontario Minimum Wage $14 as of January 1st, 2017

Today is the day! The general minimum wage increases to $14 an hour! And next January 2019, the wage will increase to $15 an hour. After that, the minimum wage will be adjusted on October 1 each year, to keep up with rising prices. Stay tuned for workshop opportunities with CAC about how to assert your right to the new minimum wage with your employer!

Also, effective today: workers will have two (2) paid days of emergency leave and an additional eight (8) days of unpaid leave. A worker need only to have worked for one (1) week before being eligible for this new emergency leave provision.

The new law makes it illegal for employers to misclassify workers as independent contractors. Furthermore, in the case of wage-theft, the new law makes it easier for workers to recover unpaid wages.

Employers can also no longer insist on high heels for work, unless higher heels are required for health and safety reasons.

And it is now a bit easier for all of us to join unions, thanks to some important changes.

But make no mistake; our Big Business opponents are already gearing up to spread misinformation as part of their campaign to oppose decent work.

Challenge the Chambers
A vocal opponent of the Fight for $15 and Fairness has been the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC), through its “Keep Ontario Working” campaign of fear mongering. This campaign has been roundly criticized for relying on out-dated and sloppy research methodology to make exaggerated and unproven claims about the impact of decent wages. Such claims fly in the face of seven decades of peer-reviewed research that shows rising wages do NOT cause job loss or price inflation.

Ontario’s public colleges and universities are members of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and give undisclosed amounts of money to the Chamber for its lobbying efforts. If you believe our public colleges and universities should not be associated with questionable research practices or campaigns that run contrary to the interests of students, staff and faculty, then please sign and send an email now.

As you can see, we will be up against some powerful interests in 2018. But we know that with your support, we can make sure that 2018 is the year we protect – and extend – $15 and Fairness to all.

If you haven’t done so already, please give to our Fight On! Fund (click here to donate)and help us stop the Big Business lobby from de-railing the $15 minimum wage and other important improvements in labour law.

Ontario Government reviews rules that exclude Domestic Workers

The Ontario government announced on May 30, 2017 that it would conduct a review of Employment Standards Act (ESA) and the Labour Relations Act (LRA) exemptions and special rules. The ESA exists to maintain a basic floor of rights in the province for all workers, while the LRA exists to provide access to the constitutionally protected right to organize collectively into unions. Phase 1 of the review was launched October 18, 2017 to review eight occupations with exemptions and special rules under the ESA and Labour Relations Act (LRA), including Domestic workers.

Exemptions disproportionately affect racialized, migrant and women workers. Limits on access to employment standards are a feature of precarious employment and compound existing labour market disadvantage. Caregivers, and particularly those who come to Canada under the former Live-In Caregiver Program, under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, or on other restrictive work permits, need access to full labour rights. This will not only protect this group of primarily racialized, poor and working class women; it will also improve the standards of the caregiving sector, the work that makes all other work possible.

CAC has consistently heard from caregivers across Ontario that access to unionization and to all of the same employment standards as other workers in the province are necessary steps towards being able to live and work in dignity. Caregivers see these as two key steps toward the recognition of caregiving and other Domestic work as real work.

CAC broadly recommends that the Ministry strike both the ESA and LRA exemptions for Domestic Workers. CAC further recommends that the Ministry work closely with workers and advocates to develop a model of broader based bargaining for Domestic Workers. We urge Ontario to eliminate these exemptions and to take the necessary steps to ensure that caregiving work is free of exploitation and abuse, including by implementing the kinds of “broader based bargaining” strategies that would make collective action and worker power a reality for caregivers.

In the next phases of this exemption review, we would also recommend that the Ministry of Labour prioritize those industries where workers are most vulnerable, including sectors that rely heavily on migrant labour. In particular, we urge Ontario to ensure that the agricultural sector is included in the next phase of the review.

We will be closed for the holidays from December 23-January 9th. The phone line will mostly be closed during that time but if your concern is time sensitive, please leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as we can. If you are calling with a problem at work, please call the Ontario Ministry of Labour at 1-800-531-5551.

If you are in need of urgent emotional support over the holidays, please call the Gerstein Centre’s 24 hour a day hotline, at: 416-929-5200. For a list of other services across Ontario, please call 211 or visit their website http://www.211ontario.ca/.

Wishing you all a restful holiday. We look forward to working for change together in the New Year!

Toronto – Migrant Caregivers and disability rights advocates are calling for permanent status on arrival and an immediate end to the medical inadmissibility regime as the parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) continues deliberations to end this unjust system. Section 38(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act denies permanent residency to an entire family if one member of the family is sick or disabled and deemed to pose an ‘excessive demand’ on the Canadian healthcare system. Nearly 1,000 people and their families were rejected on this basis in 2014. Several migrant caregivers whose permanent residency applications have been challenged based on their children’s diagnosed disabilities will be speaking out against the discrimination they are facing.

VISUALS: Caregivers telling their stories, with videos and photographs of their children from whom they have been separated.

Migrant caregivers and disability activists and their supporters are calling on the Federal Government to:

Eliminate Section 38(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which allows for discriminating against people with disabilities.

Immediately grant permanent residency to Amalia Loyzaga, Josarie Danieles and their families, and all of the families who have been denied permanent residency on disability grounds in the last 10 years.

Grant access to permanent residency status to migrant workers currently in Canada, with specific provisions to allow their families to join them. Ensure that all migrant workers arriving in the future come to Canada with their families, and with permanent residency status.

Ensure that all migrant workers are allowed to come to Canada with their families, and with permanent residency status, which is the norm for applicants in the Canadian Express Entry system.

Ensure all migrant workers have access to all public services, basic rights and the ability to change jobs through open work permits.

Josarie Danieles has been separated from her daughter Precious Ann for seven years. Seven painful years of missed birthdays, family holidays, and touching screens rather than hugging her child.

Josarie came to Canada and worked as a Caregiver. She has fulfilled all the requirements in the Live-In Caregiver Program, and should have been granted permanent residency. But she is being denied because Immigration Canada believes her daughter would cause an ‘excessive demand’ on the health care system.

Right now, a Federal Parliamentary Committee is looking into this issue.

The discriminatory sections of the Immigration Act, Section 38(1)(a) and 38(1)(c) need to be overturned immediately. This is a first step. Disability is just one of the grounds under which hundreds of thousand of people are either forced to work, study or live in Canada temporarily or are denied permanent residency. We need fundamental immigration overhaul and that means full permanent residency status for all migrants now, and on arrival for those coming in the future.

Caregivers Action Centre (CAC) runs a hotline for Migrant Caregivers across Ontario: 647-782-6633. If you are a caregiver, you can call this hotline if you have questions about your rights at work, your immigration status, health care access, or other social supports. You can also call us if you would like to get more involved with CAC!

Over the summer starting June 17th, our hotline will be open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, 12-5pm. If you are a caregiver and you require support, you can also send an email to sharmeen@migrantworkersalliance.org. For general inquiries about CAC’s campaigns or how to get involved, please email us at info@caregiversactioncentre.org.

If you require urgent emotional support, you can call the Gerstein Centre’s 24-hour a day crisis hotline at 416-929-5200.

Migrant caregivers mark this day by speakingout

International Domestic Workers Day, June 16, celebrates the 2011 passage of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 189 for Decent Work for Domestic Workers. Domestic workers from around the world came together to fight to establish this international law for domestic workers.

This landslide victory represented an historic step forward towards domestic work being recognized as work like any other, and establishing fundamental labor protections.

To date, Canada still has not ratified this convention for decent work for domestic workers.

Since the early 1900s when women began migrating to Canada to work as caregivers, we have been organizing. And we will continue organizing until Canada ratifies ILO Convention 189, until caregivers have permanent residency status upon arrival, and until all caregivers are treated with respect and dignity.

Hear from caregivers calling for PR on arrival, fair wages, decent work and respect in this video, featuring Caregivers‘ Action Centre members and produced by a CAC member!

This is a huge victory that was only possible because of workers just like you who have been bravely speaking out against low wages and unfair working conditions. AND … we still have a lot of work to do to make decent wages, dignity, and fairness at the workplace realities for all.

Details of the announcement

$15 Minimum Wage The minimum wage will increase to $14 by January 2018, then $15 by January 2019. This minimum wage will apply to almost all adult workers – that includes you, caregivers!! BUT…farm workers still do not have access to minimum wage protections. We need to pressure Ontario politicians to make sure that everyone has access to a basic floor of rights.

Personal Emergency Leave This means that a worker who needs to take time off for any kind of emergency or illness is entitled to a minimum of 10 days of Emergency Leave, with 2 of those days paid. Starting January 1, 2018.

Unionizing Unfortunately, migrant workers were not mentioned at all in the government’s announcement today. Specifically, they did not make any changes that would allow for migrant caregivers and migrant farm workers to unionize. That means we have to push even harder to get them to listen to our demands that caregivers and farm workers should be able to organize into unions.

Enforcement The Ministry of Labour is increasing their staff to handle complaints filed by workers under the Employment Standards Act. They are also forcing employers to pay interest on stolen wages, as well as on illegally charged recruitment fees. But they could be doing more! We need proactive enforcement and protections for migrant workers.

What Can I Do?

Call or write your MPP

Your MPP is the Member of Provincial (Ontario) Parliament who represents your neighbourhood, also known as your “electoral riding.” To find a list of MPPs, go here. To find out which electoral riding you are in, enter your addresshere.

Here are some ideas of what you could say to your MPP:
Hi, my name is [name is optional] ___________________________and I live in your riding of _______________________________.

I am calling because I am excited about the changes to Ontario’s labour laws announced by Premier Kathleen Wynne, in particular the $15 Minimum Wage, the Personal Emergency Leave, and the increased fines for employers who violate workers’ rights.

I work with migrant workers who are some of the most precarious workers in this labour market, and know very well that migrant workers need specific protections. While we are optimistic, we also urge you to consider that there is room to extend protections to all workers, including migrant workers. We hope that you will help us by proposing these changes to any upcoming legislation.

$15 Minimum wage for ALL. That means no exemptions from minimum wages for agricultural workers or anyone else.

Right to Unionize. We need to remove all exemptions and allow everyone to have access to a union. All workers, including migrant caregivers and farm workers, should be able to form unions.

Enforcement. We need better, more proactive enforcement when employers break the law. We need inspections of the homes that caregivers live and work in. We need a faster process for resolving Employment Standards Act anti-reprisal claims when workers are at risk of being sent back home, and temporary permits while their claims are being processed.

Contact your local news outlets

There is going to be back-lash from the business community about the $15 minimum wage, and we need to counteract this with our words of why these changes (and more!) are necessary. Write a piece for your community newspaper, or write a letter to the editor for the Toronto Star at lettertoed@thestar.ca or the Globe and Mail at Letters@globeandmail.com about why you think a $15 minimum wage is a good thing! If you need inspiration, see the $15&Fairness website.

Get involved!

If you would like to get more involved with the Caregivers’ Action Centre and campaigns like this one, please send us an email info@caregiversactioncentre.org.